Defense still wins.

[beastson]

Another case. Houston did a very good job hitting Flacco. While the Ravens didn't on Yates. But their secondary is what won them the game. Houston secondary on the other hand....

All depends. Need play makers

[Kevin Greene]

And to that I reply: New England Patriots.

If they lose at home to the Ravens next week, that will prove your point. If they don't, well...

Like I said earlier, Patriots may be an exception. They have one of the greatest QBs ever and a great Head Coach. Also, their defense looked pretty damn impressive against Denver. Granted, they were playing The Golden Calf of Bristol, lol.

You could easily say the Pats have not been tested at all in the Playoffs yet. The Bronco offense is truly pathetic and was finally exposed for what it is, garbage. By the Patriot defense.

While no juggernaut the Raven O will be a bigger challenge, but you have to like the Pats at home.

Should be interesting. Vegas likes the Pats by 7.5 and the 49ers by 2.5 in early lines.

[tiger7_88]

You could easily say the Pats have not been tested at all in the Playoffs yet. The Bronco offense is truly pathetic and was finally exposed for what it is, garbage. By the Patriot defense.

While no juggernaut the Raven O will be a bigger challenge, but you have to like the Pats at home.

Should be interesting. Vegas likes the Pats by 7.5 and the 49ers by 2.5 in early lines.

I don't have to dislike the Pats at home.

They may not be as strong a home favorite as some teams, but home-field advantage is still mighty strong in these playoffs so far (home team is 7-1).

[Rags]

I'm actually surprised by the amount of people who are ignoring the facts here and just keep pointing out NE.

Yeah NE has an abysmal defense, but they played well against Denver, if they play like they did all season, then it might've been a closer game.

Overall I think NE would've won because loldenver.

On the flipside, SF's defense had been keeping NO in check all game, but in the end, Alex Smith and the offense won the game.

The Giants won because of their passrush, and because of Eli Manning, Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz.

The key here: Balance

The teams above won because of the opposite they were known for. You need both offense and defense to win.

We need to get better on defense guys, even if we get healthy, we still have some holes we need to fill.

Let's not be the Falcons and think a big name WR will fix our problems.

[chef17]

I'm actually surprised by the amount of people who are ignoring the facts here and just keep pointing out NE.

Yeah NE has an abysmal defense, but they played well against Denver, if they play like they did all season, then it might've been a closer game.

Overall I think NE would've won because loldenver.

On the flipside, SF's defense had been keeping NO in check all game, but in the end, Alex Smith and the offense won the game.

The Giants won because of their passrush, and because of Eli Manning, Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz.

The key here: Balance

The teams above won because of the opposite they were known for. You need both offense and defense to win.

We need to get better on defense guys, even if we get healthy, we still have some holes we need to fill.

Let's not be the Falcons and think a big name WR will fix our problems.

This. 49ers: 36 points, 300 passing yards, 143 rushing yards.

Giants: 37 points, 330 passing yards, 95 rushing yards.

Defense helped, but they damn sure didn't win these games.

[tondi]

My point with regards to the draft is not to reach for a need on defense if an impact offensive player is sitting there at 8/9. I would have a hard time passing on somebody like Blackmon so we can reach for a DT that would have been available 10 picks later.

Now if we can get an impact guy on D with that pick, or if the BPA is a defensive player when we pick then we should absolutely go defense.

That doesn't mean we pass up a stud WR or OT just to reach for a defensive guy who fills a more immediate need.

I don't know what is so confusing or even debatable about this philosophy.

[Marguide]

This. 49ers: 36 points, 300 passing yards, 143 rushing yards.

Giants: 37 points, 330 passing yards, 95 rushing yards.

Defense helped, but they damn sure didn't win these games.

But how did these teams put up these numbers?

How many extra opportunities did the 49ers get on offense thanks to turnovers generated by the defense?

Did the excellent Giants d-line cause Rodgers to be a bit off? Did the Giants benefit from GB turnovers? Who caused the turnovers?

[chef17]

But how did these teams put up these numbers?

How many extra opportunities did the 49ers get on offense thanks to turnovers generated by the defense?

Did the excellent Giants d-line cause Rodgers to be a bit off? Did the Giants benefit from GB turnovers? Who caused the turnovers?

They put up those numbers by executing on offense. Doesn't matter how many opportunities they get if the offense sucks

[Kevin Greene]

This. 49ers: 36 points, 300 passing yards, 143 rushing yards.

Giants: 37 points, 330 passing yards, 95 rushing yards.

Defense helped, but they damn sure didn't win these games.

You have to temper this of course with the field position the Giant defense handed the offense, especially the later part of the game.

The Giant offense started drives at the GB 41, 34 and 4 yard lines as well as drives starting at the 50 yard line and the Giant 45 and 43 yard lines.

[chef17]

You have to temper this of course with the field position the Giant defense handed the offense, especially the later part of the game.

The Giant offense started drives at the GB 41, 34 and 4 yard lines as well as drives starting at the 50 yard line and the Giant 45 and 43 yard lines.

That's why I said defense helped. But in both games the offense still did a hell of a lot. It isn't like the defenses held their opponents to 10 points. That would be making a case for defenses still winning.

[Davidson Deac II]

I'm actually surprised by the amount of people who are ignoring the facts here and just keep pointing out NE.

Yeah NE has an abysmal defense, but they played well against Denver, if they play like they did all season, then it might've been a closer game.

Overall I think NE would've won because loldenver.

On the flipside, SF's defense had been keeping NO in check all game, but in the end, Alex Smith and the offense won the game.

The Giants won because of their passrush, and because of Eli Manning, Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz.

The key here: Balance

The teams above won because of the opposite they were known for. You need both offense and defense to win.

We need to get better on defense guys, even if we get healthy, we still have some holes we need to fill.

Let's not be the Falcons and think a big name WR will fix our problems.

I would say that the 49ers and Giants both won because they won the turnover stat. If the Saints didn't have 4 turnovers, they win that game easily. Same with the Packers and Texans. Only team to win this weekend with more turnovers was the Patriots.

[beastson]

They put up those numbers by executing on offense. Doesn't matter how many opportunities they get if the offense sucks

Something GB did not do. Dropping wide open passes and fumbles is just terrible

Giants made the big catches that was needed. Whoever makes the most plays, wins

[Marguide]

They put up those numbers by executing on offense. Doesn't matter how many opportunities they get if the offense sucks

I think you are missing the point. Of course the offense needs to be able to score, but we can do that already. What we can't do is stop anyone. We need the D to generate more turnovers, to get more 3 and outs, to put a little fear in the minds of Ryan, Brees and Freeman.

Try this exercise. Count how many 1st round picks and current or former pro-bowl players will be starting for us on O next year. Now do the same with the D. Do those two numbers look at all similar?

[Dilla]

The funny thing is, despite that line, the NY Giants was 27th defensively this year. That's part of the reason they barely made the playoffs. They've gotten hot at the right time.